Russians testing new rifle in Afghanistan

Press, 11 July 1980, Page 6

Russians testing new rifle in Afghanistan

’By DREW MIDDLETON, military affairs correspondent of the “New York Times,” through NZPA New York. The Soviet Army in Afghanistan is testing a new assault rifle, called the AKS, shells filled with needle-like projectiles, and also cluster bombs for use in territory not under Soviet control, according to American and British intelligence sources. The roads and tracks leading from Kunar and Paktia provinces into Pakistan are said to have been seeded with land mines, but the effect on movement across the border is considered minimal. American sources said that the Soviet troops had used napalm widely but that no objective evidence was available that they had used poison gas. There are reports from insurgents of a gas attack in Badakhshan province, in the north. The pace of Soviet oper-

|ations has slowed in the last two weeks. United States, ; British, and other Atlantic alliance analysts of the campaign believe that the present lull will continue until after the Moscow Olympics, starting this month and ending early inAugust. They expect the Russians will then mount a big operation, involving as many as 200,000 soldiers, to crush the insurgents. The present strength of the Soviet forces in Afghanistan remains what it was before the well-adver-tised withdrawal of some armoured and missile units — about 83,000 men.

One indication that the Russians are preparing for a big offensive is a movement reported by Western experts of five motorised rifle divisions, about 65,000 men if the divisions are at war strength, into the Transcaucasian military district.

The three weapons widely used by Soviet troops in re-

cent operations are not new, but are the type, analysts noted, that would be employed by a predominantly military force against irregulars.

The AKS rifle has been introduced into the Soviet Army as a replacement for the AK47. It fires a 5.54 mm hollow-pointed bullet that analysts have speculated is akin to the outlawed dumdum.

Soviet losses in manpower are estimated by British sources as about 6000, including about 1000 dead, since the invasion began last December. American sources also report that losses in equipment are mounting. One estimate is that the Russians are losing an average of 15 helicopters a month as a result of insurgent gunfire, malfunctions, and problems that plague operations at a high altitude in extreme heat-